Written by Jacqueline Wilson, this is the story of a feisty, hot-headed 10-year-old girl who lives in a care home that she affectionately refers to as the Dumping Ground.She has a beautiful, glamorous mother who she adores and worships, but due to neglect, she was removed from her mother's care when she was very young.
The first book, The Story of Tracy Beaker focuses first on Tracy as a human being through a diary she and the other kids in her home are awarded to write in about themselves. Afterward, she tells the audience about her past in prior homes, including a set of foster parents who were led to believe they couldn't have children that found themselves with a baby on the way and decided it would be safer for the baby if Tracy wasn't around, a foster mother named Peg who slapped Tracy for her stories, and the one she is in currently. We learn she is dire enemies with Justine Littlewood, dislikes Justine's best friend Louise, despairs of social worker Elaine the Pain, tries to get away with all sorts of mischief with Jenny the Team Mom of the Dumping Ground and is finding herself gradually caring for a timid, shy boy called Peter. Soon, she meets Cam, a poor writer and quickly decides that she will make the perfect foster mother as Tracy, too, wants to write. Hilarity, tearjerkers and heartwarming moments soon occur as Cam finds herself caring for Tracy and Tracy finds a new family in an unlikely and very new friend. Followed by three sequels:
- Starring Tracy Beaker
- The Dare Game
- My Mum Tracy Beaker
Tropes found in The Story of Tracy Beaker:
- Absurdly Sharp Claws: What Tracy would grow if she was a kitten so everyone would fear her and consequently obey her without question.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Cam laughs at some of Tracy's journal entries, though Tracy admits she hasn't been very flattering about her in some places. Elaine too."You always say OK." I told her. "You know: OK, that's fine with me, if that's what you want I'm not going to make a fuss; OK Tracy, yes I know you've got this socking great axe in your hand and you're about to chop off my head because you're feeling angry with me, but OK, if that's the way you feel, I'm not going to get worried about it because I'm this super-cool social worker."She burst out laughing then.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Tracy sees Peter as this, although they aren't related, but later comes to see him as her best friend and misses him when she leaves the Dumping Ground.
- Believing Their Own Lies: In the first book Tracy speculates that her mother is unable to care for her due to being abroad and imagines her as a famous actress in America. She gets carried away with this idea and adds to it over the series. Mostly this is just an imaginative game and Tracy admits to Cam that while sometimes she believes it's real, other times she knows she is making it up.I knew it was all going to come true, though perhaps I was embellishing things a little. I am occasionally prone to exaggeration. This means I can get carried away and tell socking great lies. They start to seem so real that I believe them too.
- Big Eater: Tracy fills in the "Things I Like Eating" section of her book with "everything."I like birthday cake best. And any other kind of cake. And Smarties and Mars Bars and big buckets of popcorn and jelly spiders and Cornettos and Big Macs with French Fries and strawberry milk shakes.
- Bonding over Missing Parents: When Justine's dad didn't turn up to visit her, Tracy was reminded of herself in Justine's spot by the window, waiting and waiting for her mother to come and visit her. This is what led to them becoming friends until Justine's father finally did make an appearance and Tracy got jealous.
- Disappeared Dad: Tracy's father is never mentioned, except for in the third novel when Tracy asks her mother, Carly, who has recently come back in Tracy's life if the photo of the man in her mother's wallet is her father. Carly reacts as though she had forgotten Tracy even had a dad to begin with.
- Disneyland Dad: Crossing over with Disappeared Dad, Justine's dad rarely visits her, but when he does, he always brings her presents such as the Mickey Mouse alarm clock Tracy accidentally breaks.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The Story of Tracy Beaker reads very much like a diary, with no numbered chapters, illustrations deliberately set up to look like Tracy has drawn them herself and even a page devoted to Tracy and Peter playing games like hangman and noughts and crosses. The Dare Game though doesn't have any of these touches, with even the illustrations seeming more polished and less like a child's doodles.
- Extremely Protective Child: Despite the strong inference that Tracy's mother was, at best, neglectful and at worst abusive, Tracy refuses to hear a single bad word about her. Justine too adores her father, despite him being incapable of taking care of her or her younger brothers and visiting her only sporadically.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Cam and her mother, who disapproves of her lifestyle. They have an off-screen argument when Cam refuses to have her hair done and dress up for a party in a "decent skirt" and high heels.
- Tracy and her mother have this dynamic, despite having a similar interest in fashion and make-up. With Cam however, Tracy is the feminine one.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Tracy and Justine had a Vitriolic Best Buds friendship until Justine's father turned up to take her out for the day. Tracy resented this and started taunting Justine for it, which led to her and Louise breaking friends with Tracy.
- Imagine Spot: Tracy is prone to these, whether it's about getting her back on Justine Littlewood, living with her mother or fantasising about being a famous author or actress when she grows up.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tracy can be insensitive and difficult but she can also be very kind and considerate, even to her worst enemies, to her own surprise. And no matter how many fights she gets into, she never wants anyone to get seriously hurt.
- Loving a Shadow: While Tracy loves her mum, she hasn't seen her since she was five and thus doesn't really know her. Her dream of going to live with Carly is more based on fantasy rather than out of any sort of bond with her mother. Eventually Tracy herself realises this.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Tracy and Cam concoct a "charm to be with a loved one on a festive occasion" from a book in the "Mind, Body, Spirit" section of a bookshop. Tracy uses hers to wish for her mum to come and see her at Christmas but doesn't actually use Carly's name when she makes her wish. She later wonders if the charm worked anyway and if she was Cam's loved one.
- Missing Mum: Carly until she appears in person in The Dare Game.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Tracy is brought to tears when she blames herself for breaking Alexander's leg.
- One of the Boys: Tracy's friends over the series are Peter, Alexander and Football, the former two who are much more quieter and timid than she is. Her worst enemies are Justine Littlewood and Roxanne Green and she doesn't seem to get on well with other girls her age, although she was formerly friends with Justine and Louise.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Football is only ever called Football. We find out his real name, Sean Godfrey, as an adult.
- Parental Neglect: Why Tracy was taken into care. The third book shows that Carly just isn't used to taking care of kids and dealing with Tracy's presence on a full-time basis.
- Potty Failure: Tracy mentions wetting the bed in the first book. She and Peter start to bond when she encounters him trying to wash his sheets in the bath.
- Raised by Grandparents: Peter was brought up by his nan after his parents died. Then she died too and he ended up in care.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Tracy and Justine's alarm clock. Also her "hay fever."
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Tracy is very much a hot-blooded, scruffy tomboy who enjoys football and gets on better with boys than girls. However she generally wears a skirt most of the time, is very into designer clothes and enjoyed playing with a china doll when she was little. She has girlier interests than Cam, who while not typically tomboyish, is neither typically feminine.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Tracy is very fond of smarties.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Tracy and Football fight often but ultimately care for each other. Justine and Tracy also had this dynamic before they became deadly enemies.
